Second defendant guilty in killing clerk who allegedly moved too slowly in New Haven robbery

By Randall Beach

Updated
9:54 pm EST, Wednesday, February 7, 2018

The site of the 2015 armed robbery and shooting at Citgo gas station and convenience store on Forbes Avenue that left one man dead.

The site of the 2015 armed robbery and shooting at Citgo gas station and convenience store on Forbes Avenue that left one man dead.

Photo: /

Photo: /

Image
1of/1

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 1

The site of the 2015 armed robbery and shooting at Citgo gas station and convenience store on Forbes Avenue that left one man dead.

The site of the 2015 armed robbery and shooting at Citgo gas station and convenience store on Forbes Avenue that left one man dead.

Photo: /

Second defendant guilty in killing clerk who allegedly moved too slowly in New Haven robbery

1 / 1

Back to Gallery

NEW HAVEN — A reconstituted jury Wednesday found Dwayne Sayles guilty of murdering cashier Sanjay Patel at a Forbes Avenue convenience store three years ago.

In addition to the felony murder conviction, jurors found Sayles guilty of conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery, criminal possession of a firearm and carrying a pistol without a permit.

Sayles, 24, who last lived at the Church Street South housing complex, was the second defendant to be found guilty of murdering Patel, who was 39. He died after he was shot repeatedly by two gunmen as he stood behind the counter at Pay Rite Food/Citgo gas station the night of April 6, 2015.

Superior Court Judge Brian T. Fischer Tuesday afternoon removed from the panel a juror who told the other jurors she had encountered Sayles a few days ago while visiting her husband in the jail where Sayles has been held in lieu of $2 million bail.

She said Sayles recognized her and even waved. But she told the other jurors she feared for her safety, given her role on the jury deciding his case.

Fischer questioned the other 11 jurors individually and all said they did not share those safety concerns and could remain fair and impartial. Fischer then contacted one of the alternate jurors who had been at the trial and instructed that juror to participate in deliberations starting Wednesday. But this meant the deliberations had to start all over again.

Nevertheless, after beginning anew at about 9:30 a.m., the jurors came to a verdict after only about 31/2 hours.

The state’s key witness, Leighton Vanderberg, testified in both the Sayles and Sumler trials that he drove those two to a side street near the store, parked there and waited while they committed the crime. Then he drove them away.

Vanderberg entered into a cooperation agreement with the state requiring him to truthfully testify about what happened the day and night of Patel’s death. Vanderberg pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of aiding and abetting first-degree robbery, for which he faces up to 20 years in prison. Five days after the New Haven crime, he participated in a fatal robbery and shooting at a store in Bridgeport, for which he is serving 40 years.

Sayles’ attorney Frank O’Reilly told the jurors in his closing argument Monday that Vanderberg was not credible because he claimed in both crimes not to have known the co-defendants were planning a robbery or shooting. O’Reilly called Vanderberg “a career criminal, a bad guy.”

But Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Seth Garbarsky retorted that it would make no sense for Vanderberg to make up a story implicating Sayles, a friend of his.

The prosecutors, Garbarsky and Assistant State’s Attorney Lisa D’Angelo, called two other witnesses, both convicted robbers, who testified Sayles admitted to shooting Patel. One of them quoted Sayles saying the cashier took too long handing over the cash and cigars they demanded, so he was shot.